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Pittsburgh has had great success against the Washington Capitals in the playoffs Ryan Jensen Color Rush Jersey , but the Penguins will be challenged by the absence of a couple key players when the teams open a second-round series Thursday at Capital One Arena.

Center Evgeni Malkin, who led Pittsburgh in scoring in the regular season, and Carl Hagelin, a prime penalty-killer, have been ruled out for Game 1 because of unspecified injuries sustained late in the Penguins’ first-round win against Philadelphia, coach Mike Sullivan said Wednesday.

“Guys have to step up in different roles maybe,” Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby said Wednesday. “I don’t think anybody has to put too much pressure on themselves. I think collectively we can find ways (to bridge the gap). Those guys aren’t easy to replace, but that’s what we’re faced with.”

Washington has one known injury. Forward Andre Burakovsky is out at least for the start of the Penguins series because of an undisclosed injury he got in the first round against Columbus.

The Capitals also have history working against them. They are 1-9 all-time in playoff series against Pittsburgh, including losses the past two seasons and in 2009. In each of those three years, the Penguins went on to win the Stanley Cup.

The Capitals don’t find that discouraging.

“There’s not a person in our locker room or on our coaching staff that doesn’t want to play the Penguins,” Washington coach Barry Trotz said. “It’s probably fitting. We’re actually quite excited about it. They’re two good teams. They always have been Chris Rusin Colorado Rockies Jersey , and you get another match. It’s all good.”

Washington sniper and captain Alex Ovechkin has repeatedly declared, “I can’t wait,” since just moments after the Columbus series, and he expanded on that Wednesday.

“It’s just fun. That’s why we worked so hard all year, to be in this position,” Ovechkin said. “It’s a big challenge for us, especially against Pittsburgh. It’s always a rivalry, always lots of attention to the series, and it’s fun.”

Ovechkin, 32, who has never won the Cup or even reached the Eastern Conference final Jordan Akins Color Rush Jersey , figures the law of averages will catch up with the Capitals eventually and they will beat the Penguins.

“One day it has to happen,” he said. “If we want to get success, we have to beat Pittsburgh and move forward. They’re the most experienced team right now in the league. Lots of great players. It’s a huge challenge.”

The Metropolitan Division clubs split their four games during the regular season. Washington won the division, with Pittsburgh finishing second, five points back.

“I don’t think they’re going to change the way they play. They’ve done it all year long,” Penguins winger Phil Kessel said. “I don’t think at this time of the year you change much what you do.”

While the Penguins are set with goaltender Matt Murray, who has won two Cups and had two shutouts in the first round, Washington will start off with Braden Holtby, a former Vezina Trophy winner who struggled at times during the season and lost the No. 1 job at the start of the playoffs before regaining it during Game 3 of the Columbus series.

“He’s been professional,” Trotz said of Holtby. “When we made the decision to start (Philipp Grubauer), (Holtby) was all in. He just said http://www.jetsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-terrelle-pryor-sr.-jersey , ‘If I get a chance to get in, I’m going to stop the puck for you.’ … When he got in, he backed his words up.”

OAKLAND, Calif. — The Houston Rockets will attempt to close out the defending champion Golden State Warriors in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals on Saturday night, but will have to go about it without star point guard Chris Paul.

Paul had 20 points, Eric Gordon 24 and James Harden 19 when the Rockets moved to within one win of their first trip to the NBA Finals since 1995 with a 98-94 home victory over the Warriors on Thursday.

As it turned out, the key play of the game — in more ways than one — occurred when Paul suffered a strained right hamstring while attempting a missed floater in the key with 51.7 seconds remaining and the Rockets clinging to a 95-94 lead.

Paul was unable to return to the defensive end after the miss, giving the Warriors a five-on-four power play with a chance to go ahead.

But instead of placing their uncovered man, little used Quinn Cook, close to the basket, the Warriors spotted him up for a 3-pointer http://www.49ersauthorizedshops.com/authentic-jeremiah-attaochu-jersey , which he missed after nervously fumbling a pass.

The Rockets went on to score the final three points on free throws to go ahead 3-2 in a playoff series for the first time since 2009.

“We don’t want to just be down on it. We want to keep our same swag, our same positive energy,” Harden said of the loss of his backcourt sidekick. “We’re not here moping around and sad. We’re good.”

Paul is seeking to reach the NBA Finals for the first time in his career. Now it’s possible the Rockets will make it, but he won’t.

The club wouldn’t speculate about his availability past anything more than Game 6. He will be re-evaluated when the Rockets return home Sunday, either for a Game 7 against the Warriors on Monday or for Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday.

The Rockets went 15-9 without Paul in the starting lineup during the regular season, with Gordon replacing him on 21 of the 24 occasions.

Gordon has been a key contributor to the Rockets’ success off the bench in the series. He has single-handedly outscored Golden State’s reserves 38-16 in the last two games, both of which Houston has won to reverse what had been a 2-1 deficit in the series.

Of course, the Warriors have had health issues of their own in the series, with Andre Iguodala having missed Games 4 and 5 with a bruised left knee.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr admitted Friday that he had “no idea” whether Iguodala would be available for Game 6, while at the same time noting that “he’s gotten incrementally better each day.”

With or without Iguodala, history says the Warriors will be tough to beat under the circumstances they’ll be experiencing in Game 6.

Since Kerr took over as coach in 2015 Authentic Blake McLaughlin Jersey , the Warriors are 36-6 at home in the postseason, including an NBA-record 16-game winning streak that was snapped in their 95-92 loss in Game 4.

They’ve won 26 of their last 32 playoff games regardless of the site, and have a 3-1 record under Kerr in potential elimination games, with the lone loss coming in Game 6 of the 2016 Finals against Cleveland.

The Rockets, meanwhile, have wasted no time disposing of vulnerable opponents this postseason, eliminating Minnesota in the first round and Utah in the Western semifinals at first crack after going up 3-1 in each series.